My Experience with the Atkins Diet (part 2)

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by Owen Jones.

Some people try make your life miserable, if you let them. Everyone could see that I looked better and felt happier, but some people just have to try to spoil it. I was told: many people have died of kidney or liver failure after being on Atkins I read it in the paper; you will have a heart attack, it's not natural; your cholesterol will shoot up and you will need your legs amputated or you will have a stroke; it will affect your eyesight. All sorts of drivel. So, I went to my doctor, who admitted that he knew nothing about the Atkins diet, but also added that he had heard nothing bad about it either. He sent me for a series of tests, but the results all proved satisfactory. He was very happy that I'd lost 18 lbs and so was I. Six weeks later, I went for another cholesterol check, because of the high fat levels in the diet and, although my cholesterol level was up very slightly, the doctor said there was absolutely no cause for concern.

The Atkins diet book warns that you might develop bad breath (halitosis). I don't know whether I did or not - no-one said anything, but I started brushing my teeth four-five times a day just in case. I guess that's another benefit of following the Atkins diet: increased oral hygiene. It also warns of constipation. I didn't get that either, although I didn't give up black coffee, which has always had a laxative effect on me. But surely you can't suffer from constipation if you're allowed to eat well over 1lb of greens a day? I hadn't been eating that well before the diet! So my two main concerns were nebulous.

After a couple of weeks I was getting bored not going out so much. Not with the diet, but because I'm single and am used to going to the pub (and drinking beer). So, I decided to treat this scientifically. One day, after work, I had three pints of Guinness and felt merry. Before the diet, I would have drunk five or six pints to feel the same. To my delight, the next morning the ketone stick told me that I was still 'on the diet'. Over the following weeks, I really enjoyed finding out what would 'work' and what would not. I discovered that cider had to be avoided at all costs; some beers and some lagers were all right; red and white wine were OK. Consuming alcohol does not knock you off the diet, but it slows down your rate of progress. However, even slow progress is progress, I say. Better than giving up the diet or giving up going out.

Don't let people encourage you to 'just have a little bit'. They don't understand or don't want to understand the trouble they're causing you. One's body can hold two days worth of carbohydrates: one square of chocolate, one slice of bread, a bowl of cornflakes or one sugar in your coffee will cost you TWO days to clear out of your system. Don't let people do it to you. This is not a diet that you can stop and start when you like, in fact I think that it probably could be dangerous to keep allowing your ketone and other levels to fluctuate wildly. There are also the high fat levels in the content of the Atkins diet, which is not dangerous if you keep to it, because you body devours fat and cholesterol in the absence of carbohydrates.

The story ends at this point, with me having got down to under 16 stone and keeping it there, until very recently when I moved to the Far East to live. Once I get used to the food and have my own house and own kitchen, I will get down to 15 stone, I'm sure I will " with very little effort.

Anyway, thank you, Mr. Blackwell, wherever you are, you changed my life and my understanding of food and thank you, Mr. Atkins too.

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